By Joana Karoshi & Jennifer Forse | Staff Writers
Cars lined the streets on Thursday as students arrived at the newly renovated Kokernot Hall for Move2BU. The all-women first-year community reopened this fall after a yearlong renovation and welcomed roughly 160 students.
Kokernot Hall marked the final project in Baylor’s more than decade-long residence hall renovation plan.
For New Jersey native Patty Chahine, the move-in marked a milestone as her youngest daughter began her Baylor experience hundreds of miles from home.
“It’s nerve-wracking at first because she’s so far from home, but I’m so grateful she chose a Christian-based university,” Chahine said. “I loved how warm and welcoming Baylor was when we first visited. I feel at peace knowing she’s in good hands.”
Chahine said the distance between home and Waco — four hours by plane or two days by car — made the move especially emotional.
“The hardest part is letting go,” Chahine said. “It’s bittersweet knowing your youngest child, who has been so attached to you, has come out of her shell and is learning to be independent.”
The renovated Kokernot Hall includes pod-style bathrooms, a change that Marineland, Florida, junior Sarah Kachouroff said would have made her freshman experience easier.
Kachouroff lived in Kokernot her freshman year, before the renovations began in June 2025. She returned Thursday as a volunteer to help incoming students move in.
“I am a little jealous that they have pod bathrooms,” Kachouroff said. “I think that will give them a little peace, compared to the fights we had in our communal bathrooms.”
For Kachouroff, volunteering at Move2BU also gave her the opportunity to recreate the welcome she experienced as a freshman
“When I moved my freshman year, I remember seeing all the smiling faces, meeting my CL’s and feeling so welcome,” she said. “So being that for someone else is a way to pass it on.”
Volunteers from student organizations, sororities and the Waco community helped students carry furniture, boxes and other belongings into their rooms while providing water and snacks to combat temperatures expected to exceed 100 degrees.
Lisa Bland, administrative director for the Health Center in The Student Life Center, volunteered at a refreshment station for students, parents and volunteers.
“I’ve not done Move2BU in the past, but everybody in our office that goes is pumped up, so this year I wanted to be a part of it,” Bland stated. “It’s just been so fun so far. It’s a whole sight to see.”
Alpha Chi Omega members also volunteered at move-in. Junction, Colorado, Sydney Maurer and Falls Church, Virginia, Keira Luna — both sophomores — said helping incoming students is a way to truly welcome them to Baylor.
“Move2BU is a great way to help freshmen relax and really become a part of our community,” Maurer said.
Luna said she remembered receiving similar help when she moved into Baylor the previous year.
“It’s really important for the freshman and any new student moving to Baylor to feel that sense of welcome right away,” Luna said. “Last year, when sororities helped me move in, it really took the pressure off because they knew what they were doing.”
As students settled into the renovated residence hall Thursday, the move-in process marked both the beginning of their Baylor experience and the completion of a long-running effort to renovate the university’s residence halls.
“We have advisors out here; we have students; we have people from the Waco community,” Maurer said. “It just shows how tight-knit and supportive our community is.”
